the (3) reasons i'm constantly fighting a cold

I haven't "formally" introduced the kids yet, so I thought that since I've been here a month, now would be a good time to tell you a little about each of them...and you can see for yourself why I'm so crazy about them...cause they're so ridiculously cute!

Starting with the oldest:

KASPER

Kasper is the oldest one; currently 6 but turning 7 this Saturday. He's definitely got the "oldest child" role nailed down...the one that always listens, nurtures the younger kids, and somehow always seems to me to be the age of 14. Why, I don't know...but I'm always having to remind myself that he's only 6, and then I'm bewildered for a moment cause he seems so much older! He's a very smart child, can read better than some of my own friends, and at the moment is in LOVE with the PS2 game "Lego Star Wars". His favorite color is blue, he knows all the names of all the dinosaurs (no, really), and won't eat potatoes but will eat potatis bullar, which are hashbrowns. Surprisingly, he doesn't talk very often in English to me, but when he does it's too cute. Like, he tells me to "wait leetle" (wait little) when he wants me to "wait a minute". I have a hard time not waiting leetle when he says it. And I think his favorite song is Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape".

KLARA

The 5-year-old princess of the family, she's adorable and affectionate and playful and sweet...and she knows it. Klara is most definitely the girl that's going to grow up and have all the guys wanting her, all the girls wanting to be like her, and probably putting premature gray hair on her mother's head. Her favorite color is (obviously) pink, but also loves purple and red. She can't get enough princess/girly/frilly stuff, and lately has been having me put water in the milk she drinks at dinner. I've realized within the last week that out of the three kids, she's absolutely the instigator of any mischief they get into, and she'll be the first one to get them riled up at bedtime. She LOVES boys - we'll pick Kasper up from school and she'll go around hugging all his male classmates while we all wait for her - and her favorite song is "Man-eater" by Nelly Furtado. I fear that this is somewhat prophetic...

SIXTEN - AKA CIGE

The baby! I definitely do not have favorites here, but Sixten is the one that probably lets me closest to him, which is probably cause he's the youngest. He's 3 years old and is the most boyish boy I've ever met. His nickname is Cige (like, see-gay...um, french for cigarette. that's what his mom said to me when i asked about it), so you're more likely to hear us yelling for Cige rather than Sixten. Of all the kids, he speaks the least amount of English, but he's getting little words in there, such as substituting "good" for "bra" (the Swedish word for "fine" or "good"). He loves to run and jump and yell, and really gets into fishing off of the dock with his little Mickey Mouse fishing pole. I think my favorite story to date with Sixten is when, one morning his mom was telling me that she woke up in the middle of the night to discover that Sixten had wet the bed (he sleeps with his parents sometimes). She got him and changed him, and the next day her and her husband were talking to him and asking him if he remembered wetting the bed the previous night. Sixten said - with all seriousness - that he hadn't wet the bed, that he rolled over and the bed was just wet. Too cute :)

It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love with children...I've been here almost 6 weeks and already am finding myself attached to them. And yes, I have been fighting a cold since I got here. It kicked in around the 3rd week, and has yet to leave me. Unfortunately it's manifesting itself in a nasty cough right now, which doesn't make for easy sleeping.

In other news, I got my camera!! Very exciting, and VERY glad to finally have it. However, I also discovered that the disc drive on my computer isn't working, so I can't really edit any of the photos into black and white or anything. A bit of a bummer. Hopefully I can get that fixed soon.

Alright...the kids are all asleep and the hot tub is calling my name....